Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government

having a difficult temperament inbabyhood, which might also be involved,has not been found to persist through theyears of childhood, it can persist if parentsand carers respond aggressively orinsensitively or are unable to induce calm.This then indicates that unless themother’s anxiety can be reduced, it is likelyirritable or difficult babies will experiencecontinuity of negative experiences whichcould reduce their chances of becomingresilient. Similarly, Hagekull et al (1993)tracked 110 ten month old infants andtheir mothers by videoing them in auniversity laboratory as part of a largerlongitudinal project. Two observations ofa ‘strange situation’ were filmed, one withmothers present, one with them absent.Both the mothers and babies had heartratemonitors attached. Data on maternalsensitivity at four months had beencollected by observation prior to thisexperiment. It was found that infants whodid not reference their mothers in the‘strange situation’ had experienced lesssensitivity (eg physical contact,intrusiveness, response to distress,effective comforting) and had been moreirritable at four months. Social referencingis seen as either a way to communicateemotion, or as a mechanism of socialinfluence about how to act. Where nomaternal guidance was given, infantstended to be less positive towards the‘stranger’. Thus they speculate thatmaternal sensitivity may depend onirritability of child and that lack ofmaternal sensitivity would in turn lead tolack of infant social referencing. Moseset al (2001) also studied social referencingin 12 and 18 month old infants. Theydiscovered that such young children relyon the responses of their familiar adults todetermine whether an emotional responseshould be linked to what they see.Roberts (2002) reminds us that a baby’sfirst language is body language, usingwhat they see, feel, taste and smell asmessages to them about themselves andtheir world. Similarly Mollie Davies (2002in press) explains the way in whichmovement and dance contribute to a veryyoung child’s self esteem. It is importantfor spoken language and body languageto match for babies and young childrento feel truly accepted and through thisto gradually accept themselves, to learnto be the sort of people their mothersrecognise. As we point out in chapter 6,children who have experienced abuse orneglect during babyhood try to avoidfurther pain by shutting down theiremotions and this can have a negativeeffect on their physical growth as well ason their emotional health. It also meansthey try to make themselves acceptableby negating feelings of pain,anger andfear. Being accepted, even when one isangry or distressed,‘is important for all babies and youngchildren and the bedrock of confidencethat can develop as a result is crucial forthose children who have a growingawareness that they are different fromothers. This may be because of animpairment, or because they happen to bein a minori ty in some way.’ ( Ro be rts 2002: 6 ).46 EDUCATIONAND SKILLS B I RT H T O T H R E E M AT T E R S